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Skinny snakes, sloths and hedgehogs found in Texas rescue of 20,000 exotic animals

December 16, 2009 | 11:00
am

A raid on an exotic animal delivery company in Texas found starving
snakes, hundreds of reptiles packed in shipping crates and rodents that
had killed and eaten each other, officials said.

Dozens of people
with the city of Arlington and animal welfare groups took inventory
Tuesday of the animals -- estimated at 20,000 -- and removed them from
the U.S. Global Exotics during the raid. The Arlington-based company,
which advertises that it delivers exotic animals worldwide, did not
respond to a telephone message seeking comment and it's website was
down on Wednesday.

"Sometimes animals die, but the amount of
animals dead far exceeded what you would normally see at any company
like this," said Jay Sabatucci, manager of animal services with the
city of Arlington. "Animals were not fed, not fed properly, overcrowded
and attacking each other. Some were in an environment not proper for
them, such as snakes in a 72-degree room with a lamp over them, which
is not enough heat and could cause them to die."

The company's
warehouse held mostly reptiles and rodents and also spiders, sloths and
hedgehogs, but it was unclear how many were dead, said Maura Davies, a
spokeswoman with the SPCA of Texas. Veterinarians treated the most
severely malnourished animals, she said.

Hundreds of rodents were
crammed in small containers covered with wire, and many had killed and
eaten each other, Davies said. Other animals were kept in feeding
troughs, and there were numerous stacked shipping containers still
holding turtles and other reptiles that had been sent to the company,
Davies said. About 200 iguanas were in one small room, she said.

A
hearing will be held within 10 days to determine if the animals will be
returned to the company or stay in the care of the animal welfare
groups, Sabatucci said. The city is considering filing criminal charges
against the owner, he said.

The city was tipped off recently by
federal officials who had executed a warrant for another violation and
reported concerns about the animals' conditions, Sabatucci said.